I recently had lunch with some of my work mates and we got on the subject of our interests. The subject went to Doctor Who, and one of them pointed at me and said "Oh, now that would make a great spec script for you." because I want to eventually work solely in sci-fi and fantasy and have a few TV series ideas. So, my question is would writing a spec script help me get noticed and if so, who are the right people to send them to, because as far as I know, specs aren't accepted in contests, which is one big arena where new writers are discovered. If you have any other advice on breaking into that TV writer's room, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks all! Cheers, --Stephonika
Screenwriting : Spec Script Needed to Break into TV writing? by Stephonika W. Kaye
Spec Script Needed to Break into TV writing?
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Yes. A script (three or four) is needed to show your talent and skill as a writer. It's how agents and TV producers decide who to rep or hire. You're correct, spec scripts are usually not accepted in contests, but agents and TV producers are not looking for the same thing contests are. Pick three (or four) TV shows and write a script for each of them to show your versatility as a writer. I understand that you eventually work solely in sci-fi and fantasy but to start your career you will need to show you want write many different genres. Which answers the second question; in order to break into that TV writers room you will most likely need an agent so start there. As the same time you should research producers. The chances are you will not get a staff gig on one of the top TV shows right away so look at the beginning series. Keep up with the industry and submit to shows that are staffing - especially the ones that have not started production.
Excellent. Thanks so much, mate!
After writing specs, do I send those straight to agents? And should they be current running shows, or does that matter?
I'm going to be slightly contrary. Everything that I've read and seen from the showrunners who are running things these days is that they're more interested in seeing your original work. I think that specs are valuable as a tool to both develop your own understanding and style as a TV writer and as a tool to maybe get a manager or agent to look at you. But even there, the trend seems to be headed toward original work. I think that people are mostly interested in seeing how your brain works on the page. That said, there are competitions out there that accept specs. Scriptapalooza comes to mind immediately. They run two a year. I'm not sure if the first session is closed yet. It's somewhere early in the summer. I also seem to remember that Final Draft accepts specs in their Big Break Contest now. Though I could be absolutely wrong about that. I think that, in general, if you're hoping to get someone (be it a manager, agent, or showrunner) to look at your work, you should write what you love most. If that is an original concept, that's fantastic. If it's an episode of Doctor Who, go for it. Just don't submit the Doctor Who spec to Doctor Who. To answer your second set of questions. I think the general rules with specs are thus: it should be a show that's been on the air for at least a year. You want this because the show will have had time to sort out what it is by that point and you'll be able to prove with your spec that you can write in that style. Next, you want to pick something that's more likely to be known by the person you want to read it. If you write a really fabulous spec for Rectify, which twelve people have seen, that's great. But the person reading it, who didn't watch the show, won't be able to fully appreciate all the work you've done. Third, you don't want to blow up the format of the show. The spec is meant to prove that you can write in the style of that show. So don't reveal major characters' secrets or kill someone central to the plot or introduce a new major character who carries the episode. And last, if you do write something that's been off the air for a while, make sure that it is the best episode of that show there's ever been. A long time ago, I wrote a Buffy spec. And even though I've still got it saved on my computer, it's not something that I'd ever send to anybody. Mostly because it's not good and I have grown soooooo much since then. But also because it's not better than the best episodes of that show.
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All right, thanks. Maybe I'll try one spec for now and continue working on my original stuff. Thanks a lot, Kent
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I thought of one more thing. Don't just write a spec of something you love to watch (though you definitely should write for something you love); make sure you also read at least one of that show's shooting scripts before you write it. You'll pick up on details of how they write the show, both stylistically and mechanically. You can find a lot of pilots online for free now. There are also a lot of other individual scripts out there. Some shows even release bound anthologies. So really look around.
Thanks for the tip. Been looking at the scripts for a few already!
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